Wrecking crane



w. 1.. BROWN WRECKING CRANE July 3, 1934;

' Filed Oct. 50, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR VV/LL/AM L. ERow/v 5ygavdum' Hiram/vs Y 4 SheetsSheet 3 w. 1.. BROWN WRECKING CRANE FiledOct. 50. 19:51

July 3, 1934.

IITTOANE V July 3, 1934. w BROWN 1,965,367

WRECKING CRANE Filed Oct. 30, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIQ. 6.

Iljhjllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll //v VENTOR" WILL/AM L.BROWN Patented July 3, 1934 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in wrecking cranes and particularlyrelates to Wrecking cranes for electric railways having overhead feedwires.

53 The electrification of railways has brought with it an incidentalproblem of handling and clearing derailments and break down ofequipment, which can only be taken care of by use of wrecking cranes.

The standard wrecking cranes now in use are constructed with booms ofgreat length, and when in use the boom is necessarily placed with theouter end elevated as high as possible above the rails, so as to bringthe main hook, from the boom,

151 at its minimum radius for lifting heavy loads.

The feed wires of electrically equipped railwaysw are located twenty-twofeet above the rails and are carried by catenary wires or structuralbridges of various forms.

Most railroad electric equipment, particularly electric engines, are soheavy that the standard form of crane can only handle them with the boomelevated so as to bring the lifting hook, within a short radius from theheel of the boom. 1 It can be readily seen, therefore, that the standardtypes of cranes are of very little service until the feed wires arecleared away, at a great loss of time, especially in replacing the wiresafter the track is cleared.

The object of the present invention is to provide a wrecking crane whichmay be operated upon railways having overhead feed wires.

A further object is to provide a wrecking crane with means for changingthe radius of the boom relatively to the end of the car withoutelevating the boom.

A further object is to movablymount the crane upon the car so that thecrane may be moved relatively to the length of the car, whereby thecenter of gravity of the load upon the crane may be moved back from theend of the car, for reducing the load upon the end truck and outriggers,of the car, adjacent to the object to be lifted, thus enabling a heavyobject to be lifted without excessively loading one end of the car,which would cause damage to the tracks and substructure.

A further object is to mount the crane upon a carriage, which in turn ismovably mounted upon the railway car, so that the position of the cranemay be varied relatively to the length of the car.

A further object is to construct the railway car with side sills in theform of tracks or guides, in which rollers upon the carriage are movablethroughout the length of the car, for supporting the carriage upon thecar, and also for preventing the tilting of the carriage relatively tothe car.

A further object is to provide a crane with a boom which is rotatableupon a vertical axis upon the crane, and provide means for reversing thecrane relatively to the ends of the carriage, whereby the boom may bepositioned and operated at opposite ends of the car on which thecarriage is slidably mounted.

A further object is to provide locking means for holding the rotatablecrane against rotation upon the car and also for preventing the tiltingof the crane when lifting a heavy load over the end of the car, and toconstruct said locking means so that the crane may be readily unlockedfrom the car when it is desired to reverse the crane to position theboom at either end of the car.

A further object is to provide locking means between the carriage andthe car for holding the carriage from moving longitudinally upon thecar.

These together with various other novel features of construction andarrangement of the parts, which will be more fully hereinafter describedand claimed constitute my invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of myimproved wrecking crane.

Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1, showing the boom in a difierentposition.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on line 33, Fig. l, drawn on alarger scale.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a different form of crane in which thelatter is rotatably mounted upon the carriage.

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section on line 55, Fig. 4, drawn on alarger scale.

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section on line 6-6, Fig. 4, drawn on alarger scale.

In the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tolike parts, 10 represents one form of my improved wrecking crane, asshown in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings. A railway car 12 of the heavyflat car type is mounted upon suitable trucks 13 having wheels 14 shownresting upon tracks 15. The car 12 is provided With out-riggers' 16 ofthe usual type which may be extended, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2,for preventing the car from tilting.

The car 12 may be constructed with a body 18 in the form of a casting orit may be of the structural steel type, shown in Fig. 5.

The body of the car is provided With longitudinal side sills which formguides or runways 9 zfor rollers 20. A lower flange 21 provides asupport for the rollers 20 and the upper flange 22 provides means forpreventing the upward movement of the rollers away from the lowerflanges 21.

A carriage 25 is provided with brackets 26 located on opposite sidesthereof. Said brackets extend downwardly from the carriage and em--brace the car body 18 between them. The brackets 26 form bearings 2'? inwhich are secured stud shafts 28, on which the rollers 20 are rotatablymounted for supporting the carriage upon the lower flanges 21 of the carbody, where by the carriage is movable longitudinally of the car. Theupper flanges 22 prevent the tilting of the carriage relatively to thecar.

Cranes 30 and 31 are mounted upon opposite ends of the carriage. Thecranes include booms 32 and 33. Each boom is pivotally mounted upon ahorizontal shaft 34 carried by the heel bearing 35, which latter ismounted upon a vertical shaft 36, rotatably mounted in upper and lowerbearings 37 and 38 upon the carriage. The outer end of the boom carriesthe main lifting hook 40 and sheaves 41 and 42 are provided for 25'elevating the outer end of the boom, in the usual manner.

The booms 32 and 33 are of relatively short length so that they may beoperated below the .overhead feed wire 45. When it is desired to vbevaried relatively to the end of the car, over which it is operating, bymoving the carriage lengthwise of the car, instead of elevating theboom, as has been done heretofore.

The carriage 25 may be moved upon the car 12 by means of a cable 46having its opposite end attached to blocks 47 and 48, anchored atopposite ends of the car. The cable 46 encircles a drum 49, rotatablymounted upon the carriage 25. A motor 50 and suitable gearing 51 areprovided for rotating the drum 49 in either direc- 50" tion and therebymoving the carriage upon the car, due to the tension placed by the drumupon either end of the cable.

Each crane 30 and 31 may be operated by hoisting apparatus 52 and 53,mounted upon the carriage 25. Said hoisting apparatus may be of anywellknown type. Motors 54 are provided for operating the hoisting apparatusand are supplied with current from the feed wire 45, or they may besupplied by current from a power plant located either upon the carriage25, or upon another car, not shown in the drawings, as is well known inthe art.

My invention as above described may be operated by moving the carriage25 lengthwise of the car 12 for the purpose of changing the radius ofthe booms relatively to the ends of the car. By this arrangement thebooms may be operated without elevating them to a sufficient height toThe booms are mounted upon the vertical shafts 36, on which is secured asegmental gear 55 which meshes with a pinion 56, operated by anysuitable mechanism, arranged for rotating the shaft 36 and the.

boom, so that the boom may be swung to either side of the car 12, asshown in Fig. 2.

The carriage 25 may be secured in a fixed position. upon the car 12 byinterlocking means in the form of shoes 58, shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Theshoes 58 are suspended below the upper flanges 22 of the car sills bymeans of levers 59, pivotally mounted in bearings 60, upon the carriage25, and connected at their inner ends with pistons 61 in the cylinders62, which are preferably operated by air under pressure and controlledby a valve 63. When it is desired to lock the crane or carriage 25against longitudinal movement upon the car, the valve 63 is operated formoving the pistons 61, which move the shoes 58 tightly against theflanges 22 of the car, thus rigidly holding the carriage from movingupon the car. The shoes 58 may be readily released by operating thevalve 63 when it is desired to move the carriage upon the car.

The operation of the form of my invention above described, is asfollows: The crane is of the double type having a boom at each endthereof, either of which may be operated independently of the other.

The booms are of medium length and may be operated without interferingwith the feed wire 45. The booms may be extended to various distancesbeyond the ends of the car 12 by moving the carriage 25 lengthwise ofthe car. By this construction the radius of operation of the boomrelatively to the end of the car may be varied without elevating theboom. When it is desired to lift a heavy load over the end of the car,the carriage may be moved back from the end of the car so that the heelof the boom will be located midway of the length of the car, therebybringing the center of gravity of the load adjacent to the center of thecar, thus distributing the load carried by the boom evenly throughoutthe length of the car instead of having the entire load placedimmediately above the end truck of the car.

The carriage 25 may be locked against sliding movements upon the car 12by means of the shoes 58 which are provided for securely holding thecarriage in a fixed position upon the car. The shoes are released fromthe car when it is desired to move the carriage upon the car. By thisnovel construction the booms may be operated without elevating themabove the feed wire 45, therefore the necessity of removing the feedwire is avoided.

The form of my invention shown in Figs. 4 to 6 consists of a singlecrane having a boom arranged to swing horizontally thereon and the craneis reversibly mounted upon a carriage which in turn is movably mountedupon a railway car.

The railway car 65, shown in Figs. 4 to 6, com prises a body 66 ofI-beam construction. The side sills of the body have upper and lowerflanges 68 and 69 which form tracks or guides extending throughout thelength of the body 66.

A carriage '70 is mounted above the car body and is supported upon saidlower flanges 69 by rollers 72 which are rotatably mounted in bearingsformed upon side brackets 7 3, rigidly mounted upon the horizontalmembers '74 of the carriage. The upper flanges 68 limit the tiltingmovement of the carriage and the crane by preventing the rollers 72 frommoving upwardly away from the flanges 69. A cable '76, having its Ivided upon the carriage 70 and is operated by a motor '79 for placingtension upon the cable '76 r; the carriage 70.

for moving the carriage in either direction upon the car.

A crane 80, having a floor structure 81, is reversibly mounted upon thecarriage by means of a king bolt 82 mounted in a central bearing 83 uponthe carriage about which the crane may be rotated. The floor 81 of thecrane is supported upon a circular track 85, formed upon the carriage70, by means of rollers 86. The, crane may be rotated relatively to thecarriage by means of gearing 87, which may be of any well known type.

A boom is rotatably supported upon a vertical shaft 91 secured insuitable bearings 92 and 93 upon the crane 80. The boom 90 is movablevertical about the horizontal shaft 94. Suitable mechanism 95 isprovided for rotating the vertic'al shaft 91 for swinging the boom toopposite sides of the car 65 Without rotating the crane 80 upon the kingbolt 82. Hoisting mechanism 97 is also provided for elevating the boomand for operating the hook 98.

The crane 80 is provided with means for holding the crane againstrotation and'also for holding the opposite end, relatively to the boom,from tilting relatively to the car 65. Said means consist of brackets100 located upon opposite sides of the crane 80. The brackets 100 arehinged upon horizontal shafts 101 secured in bearings 102 formed uponthe floor 81 of the crane 80. The brackets 100 are provided with rollers103, which are arranged to occupy the space between the flanges 68 and69 of the car 65, and thus hold the rear end of the crane 76 from movingvertically relatively to the car.

The crane 80 is held against rotation upon the car by means of saidbrackets 100 and said brackets 100 are held against rotation upon theshafts 101 by means of keys 105, provided for holding the brackets ineither the down position in engagement with the car, or in the upposition out of engagement with the car, as shown in Fig. 5. Thebrackets 100 are provided with flat surfaces 106 and 107 so that thekeys may be wedged between said flat surfaces and the floor structure 81of the crane, as clearly shown in Fi 5.

When both of the brackets 100 on opposite sides of the crane arepositioned in engagement with the flanges 68 and 69 of the car, thecrane will be held against rotation upon the car and the end of thecrane, opposite to the boom 90, will be held by the brackets 100 and therollers 103 from being tilted by the boom 82 when it is lifting a heavyload over the end of the car, thus relieving the king bolt of unusualstrains.

The boom 90 may be swung to opposite sides of the car due to its beingpivotally mounted about the vertical shaft 91 without rotating theentire crane relatively to the carriage '70 or the car 65. It will beseen that this form of crane can be operated in a manner similar to thecrane shown in Fig. 1, by swinging the boom upon the vertical shaft 91,without rotating the entire crane upon The rotation of the crane uponthe carriage or upon the car is only necessary when it is desired toreverse the position of the boom 90 relatively to the ends of the car.

The crane 80 may be moved relatively to the length of the car 65 bymeans of the carriage 70 which is slidably supported upon the flanges 69of the car by means of the rollers 72. The hinged brackets 100 willslide lengthwise of the flanges 68 and 69, of the car by means of therollers 103,

l without disengaging the rollers 103 from the car.

The operation of the last described form of my invention is as follows:

The crane 80 may be moved lengthwise of the car 65 for varying therelative length of the boom whereby the hook 98 may be caused toswingthrough a short radius relatively to the end of the car, or the cranemay be moved so that the heel of the boom will be located adjacent tothe end of the car when it is desired to swing the boom through a largerradius, thus it will be seen that the boom may be operated withoutelevating it above the feed wire 45. By this construction the crane maybe moved lengthwise of the car so that when lifting a heavy load overthe end of the car the heel of the boom may be located centrally of thelength of the car thereby distributing the load evenly upon the car.

The crane 80 may be reversed, for positioning the boom at either end ofthe car, by first removing the keys 105 from engagement with thebrackets 100 so that the brackets 100 may be elevated and again lockedby the keys 105, as shown in full lines at the right hand side of Fig.5, so'that the brackets will be free of the car, thus permitting thecrane to be rotated upon the king bolt for reversing the position of theboom relatively to the ends of the car. The brackets 100 are thenlowered into engagement with the car and the keys 105 again inserted forlocking the brackets rigidly upon the crane for preventing the brackets100 from rotating about the shafts 101. When the brackets 100 are lockedin the lower position they will embrace the car and thus prevent thecrane from rotating relatively to the car, and the rollers 103 willengage the flanges 68 and 69 of the car and limit the tilting of thecrane relatively to the car.

Various changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts may bemade without departing from my invention.

I claim:

1. A crane having in combination a boom, a vertical shaft upon the craneupon which the boom is mounted and rotatable relatively to the crane, acarriage, means pivotally mounting the crane upon the carriage, a car,upper and lower flanges upon opposite sides of the car extendinglongitudinally of the car, depending brackets upon opposite sides of thecarriage, rollers upon said brackets located between said upper andlower flanges, depending brackets upon said crane located at theopposite end thereof relatively to the boom, means movably mounting saidlast mentioned brackets upon the crane, and detachably engaging meansupon the last mentioned brackets positioned to engage said upper flangesand limit the tilting of the crane relatively to the car and permit therotation of the crane relatively to the carriage when disengaged fromsaid upper flanges.

2. A crane having in combination a boom, a vertical shaft upon the craneupon which the boom is mounted and rotatable relatively to the crane, acarriage, means pivotally mounting the crane upon the carriage, a car,upper and lower flanges upon opposite sides of the car extendinglongitudinally of the car, depending brackets upon opposite sides of thecarriage, rollers upon said brackets located between said upper andlower flanges arranged to permit the carriage to move lengthwise of thecar, depending brackets located upon opposite sides of the craneadjacent to the opposite end of the crane relatively to the boom, meanspivotally mounting said last mentioned brackets upon the crane, rollersupon said last mentioned brackets positioned between said flanges, andlocking means arranged for detachably locking the last mentionedbrackets in a position with the rollers thereon in engaging positionwith said flanges or in a position with the rollers thereon out ofengaging position with said flanges.

3. A crane having in combination, a carriage, means pivotally mountingthe crane upon the carriage, a car, upper and lower flanges uponopposite sides of the car, rollers upon the carriage, said rollerspositioned between said flanges, a boom, means rotatably mounting theboom upon one end of the crane, brackets located upon the crane at theopposite end portion thereof from the boom, shafts upon the crane onwhich the brackets are pivotally mounted, keys removably positionedbetween the brackets and the crane arranged for holding the brackets independing or elevated positions, and rollers upon said brackets arrangedto be positioned betweensaid flanges when the brackets are in thedepending position.

4. A crane having in combination, a railway car, booms located uponopposite ends of the crane, upper and lower flanges upon opposite sidesof the car extending longitudinally of the car, a series of rollers uponopposite sides of the crane and positioned between said flanges forsupporting the crane upon the car with either of the booms locatedadjacent to the ends of the car, a lever pivotally mounted upon thecrane, a shoe operatively associated with the lever, said shoepositioned adjacent to one of said flanges, and means upon the craneoperably associated with the lever for moving the shoe into and out oflocking engagement with the flange for locking the crane againstlongitudinal movement upon the car.

5. A wrecking crane for lifting heavy loads, having in combination, aboom operatively mounted upon the end of the crane, a railway car, upperand lower flanges mounted upon opposite sides of the car and extendinglongitudinally throughout the length of the car, a carriage, rollersupon said carriage, said rollers located between said upper and lowerflanges for supporting the carriage upon the car, means rotatablymounting the crane upon the carriage, brackets located adjacent to theend of the crane opposite to the end on which the boom is located, anddetachable means upon the brackets for engaging the crane and saidflanges upon the car for holding down the end of the crane opposite tothe boom.

WILLIAM L. BROWN.

